The Car is Over Abbiategrasso race is the second crit in the Criterium Italia Championship. The race takes it’s name from the city Abbiategrasso and Car is Over, a clothing brand. The circuit is fast with long straight roads, and wide corners. This stage wasn’t held in the city but slightly in the county, the athletes raced in the fields, a view rarely seen in fixed gear crits.
Text: Brian Megens/Chris Leustean
Heade Image: Chiara Redaschi
Photography: Chris Leustean Photography/Chiara Redaschi/Wladimir Caiazza
This event is popular among Italians with teams like Cykeln,Bike Channel, Desgenà and Ravens and Cinelli with Bruzza and Biganzoli being present. Before the finish line you could see fields full of corn and flowers, after the finish line there were a lot of people who supported, had fun, shouted out for their teammates and friends, all under a beautiful sunset.
In the women’s race a small group fought every lap to position themselves well. Paola Panzeri and Desgena team were mostly in the front, but things changed quickly when Jasmine attacked fiercely overtaking them all. However, also Jasmine’s attack did not make it as it was Letizia Galvani (Cykeln) who showed an amazing performance and technique moving away from the bunch with just 100m to go. She crossed the finish line first followed by Jasmine Dotti (IRD) and Paola Panzeri.
In the men’s race it were the teams Cykeln and Bike Channel that battled each other heavily. As the circuit was very fast break-aways were almost impossible in such a competitive field. In the bunch sprint it was Francesco Chicchi from Bike Channel that secured his first fixed gear victory by overtaking Roberto Pagliaccia (Cykeln) in the last centimeter. Martino Poccianti complemented the podium.
The men’s b category race soon had two big groups, the gap rose quickly and soon it was clear that the winner would be in the first group as the second group had no chance of returning in the race. From this group is was Fabrizio Collacciani (SeaHub) who crossed 1st the line, so he won the podium followed by Manuel Cucciniello (Crit Italia) and Loris Basciu (IRD) completed it.
Women’s Podium:
1. Letizia Galvani
2. Jasmine Dotti
3. Paola Panzeri
Men’s A Podium:
1. Francesco Chicchi
2. Roberto Pagliaccia
3. Martino Poccianti
Men’s B Podium
1. Fabrizio Collacciani
2. Manuel Cucciniello
3. Loris Basciu
More photos:Chris Leustean Ph, Wladimir Caiazza Ph
